Members were committed to creating a voluntary “alliance” dedicated to providing Internet access to quality, authoritative agricultural information, and specialized reference services.
University libraries affiliated with land-grant colleges—as well as other interested institutions, such as the International Rice Research Institute, the American Farmland Trust, the Agricultural Information and Documentation Service for America (SIDALC) and the University of Buenos Aires, School of Agriculture, Central Library,[2] are working together with NAL to develop the AgNIC Alliance, its collections and services, and the technologies upon which it relies.
Unlike most science and technology disciplines, agriculture has a mechanism for distilling and distributing research to those who need it.
Historically, state and local extension staff research topics, synthesize, and prepare information for easy consumption, often on an “as needed” basis.
This resulting decision was based on the strong belief that this partnership fit the definition of – a close association of ... groups, formed to advance common interests or cause.